Soviet Milk

Soviet Milk

by Nora Ikstena

£12.99

Pre-order for delivery on publication (7th July 2026)

Spanning fifty years in the life of a nation, from the end of World War Two to the fall of the Berlin Wall, Soviet Milk gives voice to a Latvian mother and daughter swept up in the tide of history. The mother, a gifted fertility specialist, is exiled to a rural village after defending a patient from abuse by a Soviet officer. Stripped of her career, she sinks into depression. Her daughter grows up with her grandparents, struggling with her mother’s distance and the pressure of a society that leaves little room for autonomy. Finding hope in poetry and her dreams of a better future, the daughter moves towards both personal and national liberation, even as her mother slips further into despair. This is the story of three generations of women marked by Soviet rule and the love between a mother and daughter.

Translated from the Latvian by Margita Gailitis

200pp, paperback with flaps, £12.99
ISBN: 978-1-916806-20-7
Publication date: 7 July 2026

Press & Reviews

‘A blistering Latvian bestseller... Soviet Milk powerfully evokes Latvia's bitter history.’
– The Guardian

‘One of the most devastating novels I’ve ever read about women’s lives in any society.’
– European Literature Network

‘Every so often, you come across a book so beautiful that you ration the pages to extend it. Nora Ikstena's Soviet Milk is most certainly one of these.’
– Catherine Venner, World Literature Today

‘One of the most prominent contemporary Latvian writers […] This is an honest and strong legacy for those who did not themselves experience the horrors of war but grew up during the times of Soviet depersonalization.’
– Evika Silina, Prime Minister of Latvia

‘Nora Ikstena's fiction opens up new paths, not only for Latvian literature in English translation but for English literature itself.’
– Jeremy Davies, Dalkey Archive Press

‘Nora Ikstena is proving that Latvia can speak in a bold and original voice to international audiences.’
– The Baltic Times

About The Book

Author

NORA IKSTENA (1969–2026) was born in Riga. She studied at the University of Latvia before moving to New York to study at Columbia. On her return to the Baltics she helped establish the Latvian Literature Centre. A prolific author of fiction, non-fiction, essays, and short stories, she is best known for her novel Soviet Milk, which won the Latvian Literature Award in 2015 and was nominated for both the EBRD Prize and the Republic of Consciousness Prize in 2019. An international bestseller, the novel has been translated into 30 languages and was adapted for cinema and theatre. Her honours include the Baltic Assembly Award and Latvia’s Three Star Order.

Translator

Margita Gailitis has translated some of Latvia's finest poetry and prose into English, including Sandra Kalmiete's With Dance Shoes in Siberian Snows and Māra Zālīte’s Five Fingers. Her own poetry has been widely published and has won her awards from both the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council.

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